[meteorite-list] [Fwd: Re: Will space cities get pelted ?]

From: almitt <almitt_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:01:36 2004
Message-ID: <3D1CC90C.F1A5D72E_at_kconline.com>

Hi John, Walter and all,

The LDEF was deployed on the Solar Max Repair mission. I was down for that mission and
got to watch the send off from 3.5 miles away in front of the press dome, by the large
NASA time clock you see on NASA Select TV and across from the VAB. LDEF remained in
space for 5.7 years and completed 32,422 Earth orbits. The extended stay increased its
scientific and technological value toward the understanding of the space environment
and its effects. It experienced one-half of a solar cycle, as it was deployed during a
solar minimum and retrieved at a solar maximum.

I personally haven't heard of a large meteoroid hitting a spacecraft but perhaps Ron
Baalke will chime in on this. BTW the debris in space are called meteoroids and when a
meteoroid enters the atmosphere of the Earth then it is a meteor and if it survives
passage to the ground then it is called a meteorite. I use to mix them up until I did
some reading and I see others do this also.

The Hubble Space Telescope (which I was also down to the launch) was monitored for
impactors on it just recently during the upgrade of its equipment. I think they
counted several hundred impacts. Someway they were able to tell the difference between
meteoroids from space and man made debris impactors. I know one time a paint chip
struck a shuttle window and left a noticeable sized crater in the glass. Something of
concern no matter which type of debris it might be for space inhabitants.

--AL

John Reed wrote:

> Walter do you know if a meteor has ever hit a man made object in space ?
> Thanks John
>
Received on Fri 28 Jun 2002 04:37:33 PM PDT